leading the fearsome knight Ulric (Sean Bean) and his group of mercenaries to a remote marsh. Their quest is to hunt down a necromancer - someone able to bring the dead back to life. Torn between his love of God and the love of a young woman, Osmund discovers the necromancer, a mysterious beauty called Langiva. After Langiva reveals her Satanic identity and offers Osmund his heart's desire, the horror of his real journey begins...

Why would someone with the power to bring the dead back to life live in some remote, probably malarial marsh? If one is going to make a pact with the devil the least one should do is insist on a nice villa in Tuscany or Alpine chalet (if they're heat sensitive--in which case, dude, poorly thought out bargain, there).

That's often bugged me about these sorts of movies. Look for your satanic pact makers in the palaces, knights! Any satanist living in a hut in a marsh is probably too stupid to worry about and will likely be impaling themselves on their own wands before the swamp soaks through your boots.

That's often bugged me about these sorts of movies. Look for your satanic pact makers in the palaces, knights! Any satanist living in a hut in a marsh is probably too stupid to worry about and will likely be impaling themselves on their own wands before the swamp soaks through your boots.

BWAH. Perfect.

I also wonder about what seems to be the most popular goal among the big bads...total destruction of the world, in which they LIVE!

I much prefer the baddies who just want everyone to servelove them and peel their grapes. THAT makes much more sense to me.

What frustrated me about Up in the Air was the end, with the whole "look up in the sky, and the brightest light will be my wingtip as I pass over" or something.

So, he gets burned on his way to embracing a real romantic life, and? re-enters isolation? He realizes that he's so desperately alone and? accepts it?

I'm glad I saw the movie--I just didn't expect to feel that way when the credits rolled. It switched from being an individual realisation movie to a general sentiment.

Juliebird, at my most optimistic (I've been thinking about the movie all night) I figure that next time round he'll be better placed for something real. Some resignation, much regret.

I think he just realizes that being along is not a virtue, but doesn't know what else to do. So who knows what next?

Yeah, the film ends where he got the life he thought he wanted at the same time he realized he was working for the wrong thing. So he is essentially starting over.

I kinda love that about it.

I thought the ending was needlessly heavy-handed. It would have worked better if it had just been him standing in the airport staring up at the departures board, without the VO going on for another 5 minutes explaining how we were supposed to feel about it.

Absolutely, Jessica. I thought the vo just muddied it. Having it as you suggest, I was reminded of the newbie saying she'd just pick the first flight anywhere (or something along the lines of just having a lark and enjoying it), and there he is at the end, standing at a crossroads, changing the reason he flies. Not to be isolated, but to go somewhere for the sake of enjoying the journey *and* the destination, But where it continued to with the VO, it just felt like he'd reverted to bad habits, but with the extra funk of knowing he's ignoring his epiphany with Sam Elliot and willfully embracing the isolation because there's no pain there.

Oh, Sam Elliott is in it?! Wow, that gives me a whole reason to see it.

(I have an unreasonable Sam Elliott love. I watched "Roadhouse" of few months ago just for Elliott.)

Sam's role is not large at all, Erin.